We last wrote about New York Times reporter Robert Mackey when he used a progressive blog as a source for his smear job on Steven Crowder. On Wednesday, he reported at The Lede that Pope Francis has a Twitter account.
Update: The New Pope's Twitter Feed http://t.co/uM5pq9ysba #pope
— Reading_In (@Reading_ln) March 13, 2013
NBC Washington and Boston.com also reported on the account:
New Pope hasn't tweeted as @pontifex yet, but he's getting congratulations from around the world: http://t.co/giSAviQTfV
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) March 13, 2013
The @JMBergoglio account quickly attracted more than 100,000 followers.
He had 785 followers when he tweeted this. Announcing he's the Pope. RT @JMBergoglio
Inmensamente feliz de ser el nuevo Papa, Francisco I— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 13, 2013
Jorge Bergoglio 1st tweet as pope Francis 1st. A man of our digital age. He also is on Facebook account @JMBergoglio pic.twitter.com/NTQXj1pxkJ
— Franck Perrier (@franckperrier) March 13, 2013
But oops! It was a fake.
This is a fake account run by some sick person, not genuine —> @jmbergoglio
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) March 13, 2013
https://twitter.com/DavidKenner/status/311920888855535616
.@JMBergoglio is NOT the new pope's Twitter account. It looks like a long-standing parody. Scroll through back tweets.
— Caitlin Dewey Rainwater (@caitlindewey) March 13, 2013
Twitter dropped the ban hammer on the fake @JMBergoglio account and corrections were issued.
Twitter has now suspend the fake account @JMBergoglio of Pope Francis. pic.twitter.com/tLavyxuez6
— Nicholas Augusta ✯ (@naugusta) March 13, 2013
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Apologies, we've corrected earlier @thelede update: @Pontifex is active again but Cardinal's personal Twitter account is reportedly a hoax.
— Robert Mackey (@RobertMackey) March 13, 2013
Correction: We're now hearing that this account is a fake: http://t.co/giSAviQTfV
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) March 13, 2013
CORRECTION: @JMBergoglio is not the account of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Our apologies.
— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) March 13, 2013
Those media outlets had plenty of company.
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew/status/311930951104081920
Update: Sorry folks, @JMBergoglio is a fake account
— Anthony DeRosa? (@Anthony) March 13, 2013
https://twitter.com/AlexJamesFitz/status/311921742186684416
correction: @JMBergoglio may not be the correct account. sorry all. #notnewpope
— Bridget Coyne (@bcoyne) March 13, 2013
Correction: “@lheron: Mea culpa, everyone. @JMBergoglio is not the #newpope's Twitter account. Please disregard.”
— Kimberly Wyatt (@tv_leader) March 13, 2013
MT @mashable Correction @jmbergoglio Is not the new Pope's twitter account, it's @Pontifex
— J. Paul Getty Museum (@GettyMuseum) March 13, 2013
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